| Course | C208 Change Management and Innovation |
|---|---|
| Task | Task 1 |
| Paper type | Change strategy report |
| Length | About 1,000 words, 3 pages |
| Format | APA 7 |
| School | Western Governors University (WGU) |
| Program | MS Management and Leadership |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for C208 Task 1
A Branch on Every Main Street, a Member Under Thirty Nowhere: A Current-State Analysis and Strategic Change Plan for a Composite Regional Credit Union, With a Presentation Outline for the Board
Student Name
School of Business, Western Governors University
C208: Change Management and Innovation, Task 1
Course Instructor
Month Day, Year
A Branch on Every Main Street, a Member Under Thirty Nowhere: A Current-State Analysis and Strategic Change Plan for a Composite Regional Credit Union, With a Presentation Outline for the Board
Mission and Three-Year Goals
Valley Federal Credit Union, a composite member-owned credit union founded in 1954, serves 62,000 members through 14 branches in a largely rural region. Its mission is to improve members' financial well-being through affordable services and personal attention. Its board's targets for the coming three-year period are to grow membership by 8%, reduce the average age of members, now 54, and keep operating expenses below 3.2% of assets.
Key Stakeholders
Internal stakeholders include the board of directors, elected by members; the executive team; 14 branch managers; about 190 employees, most of them tellers and member service representatives in branches; and a small IT department of six. External stakeholders include members, especially long-standing members who value branches and younger members who expect digital service; local employers whose employees join through payroll partnerships; the credit union's core banking technology vendor; and regulators, principally the National Credit Union Administration.
Current Leadership, Policies and Systems
The chief executive has led Valley Federal for 16 years and built its reputation for personal service. Decisions are centralized, and the executive team is made up mostly of long-tenured leaders from branch operations. Policies require most loans to be originated in a branch with a loan officer; online applications exist but must be completed in person. Systems include a 20-year-old core banking platform, a basic mobile app that shows balances and transfers but cannot open accounts or deposit checks without a separate step, and branch performance measures based on teller transactions and walk-in loans.
Fundamental Problems
Membership has declined 5% over three years, and members under 30 fell from 14% to 9% of the total. Those are symptoms. The analysis identified two fundamental problems beneath them.
First, the service model is built around branch visits at a time when members, especially younger ones, bank on their phones. In 2023, almost half of U.S. banked households used mobile banking as their primary way of accessing their accounts, a nearly ninefold increase over a decade, while use of bank tellers as the primary method fell by more than half (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 2024). Valley Federal's requirement that loans be completed in branches means a 26-year-old who applies online for an auto loan at 10 p.m. must take time off work to finish, and many instead finance through the dealer or an online lender.
Second, the culture and measures treat digital service as an add-on to branches rather than a primary channel. Branch managers are measured on walk-in activity, so they have no reason to encourage members to use digital tools, and no executive owns the digital member experience.
Why Fundamental Change Is Necessary
Incremental fixes, such as a marketing campaign aimed at younger members, would not address either problem. Without change, membership will keep aging and shrinking, loan growth will stall, and the cost of maintaining 14 branches will consume a growing share of revenue. The credit union's mission of improving members' financial well-being also requires meeting members where they bank.
Strategic Plan
Strategy: Valley Federal will become a digital-first credit union that keeps personal service, making every service available on a phone while converting branches into advice centers staffed by universal bankers who can help with any product. The plan follows the steps for leading change set out by Kotter (1995), which begin by establishing urgency and forming a guiding coalition, because transformation efforts often fail when these early steps are skipped.
Preparation steps, resources and timeline: (1) Months 1 to 3: establish urgency by presenting membership and age data to the board, employees and branch managers, and form a guiding coalition that includes the chief executive, two branch managers, the IT director and a newly hired vice president of digital experience; budget $180,000 for the new role. (2) Months 3 to 9: select a new digital banking platform that allows account opening, loan applications and mobile deposits entirely online; budget $1.2 million over three years. (3) Months 6 to 12: retrain tellers as universal bankers, 40 hours each; budget $150,000. (4) Months 12 to 18: redesign two pilot branches as advice centers before converting others.
Success metrics: members under 30 rise from 9% to 13% of membership by year three; 60% of consumer loans are originated digitally by year two; and member satisfaction, measured by net promoter score, rises from 38 to 50.
Sustaining the change: branch managers' measures will shift from transactions to member growth and satisfaction; digital adoption will be reported monthly to the board; and early successes, such as the first month of fully online auto loans, will be celebrated publicly so the change becomes part of how the credit union sees itself.
Challenges and contingencies: Employee resistance, especially from tellers who fear job loss, is likely. Research on change recipients finds that reactions are shaped by factors such as participation, communication, trust in management and perceived impact on one's job (Oreg et al., 2011). Contingency: commit publicly that no teller will lose employment because of the change, involve tellers in designing the new roles and offer bonuses for certification. Older members may feel abandoned. Contingency: keep every branch open during the first two years, and assign universal bankers to help members learn digital tools. Technology implementation may run late. Contingency: phase the launch, beginning with account opening and mobile deposit, and hold 15% of the budget in reserve.
Communication plan: The board receives quarterly progress reports; employees receive monthly town halls and a weekly update from the guiding coalition; branch managers receive biweekly calls; members receive letters, in-branch information and app messages explaining what is changing and what is not, with emphasis that branches remain; and the technology vendor and regulators receive scheduled briefings.
Presentation Outline for the Board
The report is paired with a presentation to the board: the membership and age trend; the two fundamental problems; the member data on mobile banking; the strategy in one sentence; the Kotter-based roadmap on a single timeline; the budget; metrics; risks and contingencies; the communication plan; and the request for approval of phase one.
References
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. (2024). 2023 FDIC national survey of unbanked and underbanked households. https://www.fdic.gov/household-survey
Kotter, J. P. (1995). Leading change: Why transformation efforts fail. Harvard Business Review, 73(2), 59-67.
Oreg, S., Vakola, M., & Armenakis, A. (2011). Change recipients' reactions to organizational change: A 60-year review of quantitative studies. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 47(4), 461-524. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021886310396550
What the C208 Task 1 instructions ask
The first C208 task asks you to analyze an organization and plan strategic change. You will usually describe the mission and goals, identify stakeholders, assess current leadership, policies and systems, identify fundamental problems, explain why change is necessary and present a strategic plan, sometimes with a presentation. Evaluators look for symptoms distinguished from underlying problems, stakeholders described with their interests, an honest assessment of how current leadership and systems contribute, a case for why incremental change is not enough and a plan with strategy, actions and a change model. A plan that addresses symptoms, such as a marketing campaign, without the causes rarely clears the analysis aspects. Use data to show the problem.
How this C208 Task 1 example is built
The report opens with the credit union's history, members, branches and goals. The stakeholders section lists internal and external groups with what each wants and fears from change. The current-state section describes leadership, policies and systems, such as centralized decisions and an outdated mobile app. The problems section separates symptoms from the two fundamental problems beneath them. A section explains why incremental fixes would fail. The strategic plan states the strategy in one sentence, then lists actions with timing and owners and names the change model that will guide implementation. A presentation outline for the board closes the report. Each section cites member data or research.
Where the C208 Task 1 rubric puts the marks
C208 Task 1 aspects are rated competent, approaching competence or not evident. A mission and goals aspect asks for the organization's direction. A stakeholders aspect rewards groups described with their interests. A current-state aspect looks for leadership, policies and systems assessed honestly. A problems aspect wants fundamental causes distinguished from symptoms. A necessity aspect asks why change is required. A plan aspect looks for strategy, actions and a change model. Evaluators notice data used to show the problem and they expect change management research to be cited. A presentation outline that matches the report shows the plan can be communicated. Clear headings for each element help evaluators find everything.
C208 Task 1 help: what sends it back
C208 reports lose marks when symptoms are treated as problems. Ask why each symptom exists until you reach a cause the organization can change. Stakeholders may be listed without interests; say what each gains or loses. The current-state section can avoid criticizing leadership, but evaluators want an honest assessment. The case for change may be assumed, so explain the cost of staying the same. Plans often lack a change model or owners; name both. Last, match the presentation outline to the report, since the board will see the presentation first and judge the plan by it. Cite the change model's source and apply its steps. Keep the plan realistic for the organization's size and budget, and show the first steps in detail.
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C208 Task 1 questions, answered
Which change model fits C208 Task 1?
One your instructions allow that suits the organization, such as Kotter's eight steps or Lewin's three stages. Name the model and show how it guides the actions in your plan.
Is the C208 credit union real?
No. Valley Federal Credit Union is fictional, built only for this example. The change management research and banking trends described are real. Use your own organization. Apply your chosen change model.
How many slides does C208 need?
Check your instructions. The sample provides an outline for a board presentation covering the trend, the problems, the evidence, the strategy and the request. Keep slides consistent with the report.
What is the difference between a symptom and a problem in C208?
A symptom is what you observe, such as falling membership. A fundamental problem is the cause beneath it, such as services that do not fit how younger members bank.
Where can I find a free C208 Task 1 sample paper?
Valley Federal's change report and its board outline are reproduced in full, with commentary beside each part. Describe the organization you are analyzing, and the first custom C208 report we write is free.